Consider this from Salon:
Next time you sit down to pay your cable-modem or DSL bill, consider
this: Most Japanese consumers can get an Internet connection that's 16
times faster than the typical American DSL line for a mere $22 per
month.
Across the globe, it's the same story. In France, DSL service
that is 10 times faster than the typical United States connection; 100
TV channels and unlimited telephone service cost only $38 per month. In
South Korea, super-fast connections are common for less than $30 per
month. Nations as diverse as Finland, Canada, and Hong Kong all have
much faster Internet connections at a lower cost than what is available
here. In fact, since 2001, the U.S. has slipped
from fourth to 16th in the world in broadband use per capita. While
other countries are taking advantage of the technological, business and
education opportunities of the broadband era, America remains lost in
transition.
via Undercurrent
After having had a computer (from this century) and broadband for only two scant years, I can't imagine going without it. All three of my siblings own computers, which I guess says a lot for them as 40 somethings, but none has broadband at home. As it is, I sometimes get impatient with my meager 10 Mbps DSL connection, but I can't imagine having DSL with speeds less than that or (heaven forbid) ISDN. To be fair, DSL and cable internet access has come a long way in the 5 years that I have been here. When I arrived in 2001, I only knew a few people with DSL and now pretty much everyone I know has high-speed access at home and many of the apartment buildings here are going fiber optic. I wonder what the problem is in the States. I figure it must have something to do with the relative monopolies enjoyed by both telephone service and cable providers, but it seems to me that the States has the potential to be a connectivity utopia, and I wonder if there is possibly some conspiracy afoot to keep a relatively high cut off for the digital divide.
I have been following the triabulations over at Blurbomat, and if someone with his technical expertise and resources can't get cheap reliable high-speed access, then I hold out little hope for the rest of the country.
Oh, just to give people an idea of what we're talking about in Japan. I pay about USD 50, per month for my connection, VoIP phone, email account, and homepage. This is actually a bit pricey, but I have been too lazy to deal with having them come to upgrade me to 40 Mbps (for the same price).
What if, seconds before your laptop began stalling, you could feel the hard drive spin up under the load? Or you could tell if an electrical cord was live before you touched it? For the few people who have rare earth magnets implanted in their fingers, these are among the reported effects -- a finger that feels electromagnetic fields along with the normal sense of touch...
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